Little girl and the map.

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his littlegirl, Shelby. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printedthe map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it toShelby and said, ' Go into the other room and see if you can put thistogether. This will show you our whole country today.' After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctlyfitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how shehad finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, ' on the other side of thepaper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where Hebelonged, then our country just came together.'

Fingerprints... where are yours?

It's been a crazy week. I was congradulating myself that I cleared a week off my calendar. I had nothing to do but Ladies Bible study and I was almost excited. I spent Wednesday, almost the whole day, chopping stalks for Jim. Then....the reason for my easy week; my friend's husband passed away. I had been working on a project for her; so we were prepared but this week of "nothing happening" was actually giving me time to serve Dawn and her needs.

Today after running all the errands I needed to at the church, funeral home, etc. I came home and began cleaning. What I noticed was the fingerprints or rather should I say what I was washing was the fingerprints. They are higher now. It used to be that the fingerprints were knee high. They were always chocolate chip cookie fingerprints and sometimes a whole hand not just the fingers. Now, I'm noticing they are where my fingerprints would be; no surprise there because everyone is the house right now is taller than I. So as I cleaned I thought about all the years I washed the fingerprints and how they rose up the wall and then I wondered if God is seeing my fingerprints rise? I mean, am I growing up so that He can see the changes in me or am I still sticking my fingerprints on the wall where they were 10 years ago?

WOW moments with God

I made a quick trip up north this past week and as I drove I probably did a 'no-no'. I drove with the camera on the steering wheel. Although it would be against all drivers ed policies and believe me we have heard them all since Tyler is in Drivers Ed right now, I got some incredible pictures. The colors were gorgeous. I sat on the dock one night and watched the sun set. God is so incredible. Not only did He create a body that is far beyond any computer but the way he designed fall and the changing colors is beyond my comprehension. It takes all a lot of trees all changing their colors to bring out the WOW in creation. Trees are still beautiful as 'green' and trees are beautiful red, and trees are beautiful as yellow but when you put the changing colors all together and look at the picture from across the water with the reflection, it's one of those WOW moments that I cannot help but see an incredible Creator. When I look at the changes in my life, I often don't think to myself that this will make my life a Wow! I think of it as a hurt, or an inconvenience or a detour. God looks at it as just another one of the colors of His tapestry. It may be a tear but to God it's another stitch in the picture of my life that someday I will look at and say Wow; that makes the picture perfect. I looked at the setting sun the other night and praised a God who loves me so much that He was putting on a show for me; Thursday night October 9th. It was just for my eyes. It was a special time for God to talk to me; to tell me how much He loved me and that as the sun changed the horizon and every 3 minutes I had another incredible picture, I kept saying to myself, "God loves me; this is my Wow moment." We all have God Wow moments when we stop to look for them. When we stop long enough to just sit and watch God move clouds, change tree colors, fly a bird through, bring a Bald Eagle flying by the docks of our life and all just because He loves us. I hope you stop long enough to just look at the Wow moments He has for you right now, today; where ever you may be.

Psalm 50

We have commented many times as we drive down the road that something reminds us of Grandma. Grandma Campbell has been gone 8 years now and still something as simple as a cow makes us talk about her. I was reading in Psalms 50 the other day and here came Grandma and cows. One of her favorite songs was, "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills". Every time we would drive by a herd of cattle in the field or on a hill, Grandma would remind us of the song and begin singing. As I was reading Psalm 50 the verse came jumping out at me,
"for every animal in the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." We drove a great many miles this weekend going to see Addlea in Chicago. We saw cows, horses, a few deer and lots of trees. We think we own things but they are God's. We think we have possession of something but it's only ours for temporary. Talk about leasing, God began the first lease program ever. Just use it for as long as you need and always remember, I own it, I gave it to you and I will take it back because you won't always need it. So when you look at the cattle, remember that God created, God cares for and God owns the cattle. If God takes the time to worry about them, how much more will God care for you?

"Bumps on a Pickle" off to the Publisher

Bumps on a Pickle, my latest book is in the hands of the

Morris Publishing and should be ready before Thanksgiving.

It is the devotions from the years 2005 and 2006. Several of

my favorite devotions are in there, including the one called

Bumps on a Pickle.

Addlea at College

This is Addlea at college. It's Joanne her room-mate, Girelle whom I call Giraffe, and Addlea.

What's Labor day without a crowbar and hammer?

So we came home from the CIA's birthday party; by the way those of you who don't know who the CIA is, they are the triplets I babysat for when they were tiny. Carly, Isaac and Aidan. They turned three today and are getting cuter all the time. So since the night was young and the kids were out riding horse, Jim and I, well probably more I, decided we could start Laboring. After all, what good is Labor day without work? We are tearing apart the wall between two bedrooms upstairs to make a large bedroom. It would be nice to have a bedroom where you can walk around the bed instead of bump into the walls. It's plaster and lathe. It's kind of fun. It's an incredible mess. We put tarps on the floor and put plastic up but I know the fine dust will travel around the house. We have one side almost done and only have two to go. Smashing things is a rather freeing feeling. Hitting walls and making dents is part of demolition. After the smashing is done however, tearing apart the plaster, tearing the boards off and cleaning up is next. We like to make messes in life or rather, we find it much easier to make messes than clean up messes. It will be fun to watch it open up the whole upstairs simply by tearing down a wall and a closet. There will suddenly be twice as much space and when you get all done you almost forget about the work. I tend to begin projects with excitement. I tend to jump at the chance to get going. This is one project where I made sure I had some provisions down first; such as tarps and plastic. When I get frustrated with this project, we get to tear apart the walls in Addlea's room where last years flood kind of ruined things and started mold growing. Now that she's off to college, we can actually do the work without her being inconvenienced. It's fun to tear part but it's also fun to look forward to what's coming next. Last night I sat outside and watched the sun set and thought about what comes next. I know that heaven will be wonderful and far beyond my imagination, but I hope there is a place for remodeling!